ntil Madame du Chatelet died, when he
went to Paris to spend all his time. He was deeply affected by the death
of the only woman he ever loved with sincerity. He propitiated the
mistress of Louis XV.--Madame Pompadour--and was appointed to a place in
the court; and was also made historiographer of France. Soon after, he
was elected a member of the Academy, thus triumphing over his old
enemies at last. For a time he sacrificed his manly independence, and
was not unlike any other court flatterer. He had a rival in Crebillon;
and disgusted with the state of things, he accepted the invitation of
Frederic, and made him a visit. He was received with the greatest joy by
the monarch--who even kissed the poet's hand in a transport of
admiration.

The king's cook awaited his orders when he wished to eat in his own
rooms, and the king's coach was ready for him when he would ride. He
spent two hours each day in studying with the king, correcting his
works, etc. etc. He was tempted by so much attention to accept of the
king a pension and the office of chamberlain; and was obliged to resign
his places at the French court. He wrote to a friend in France:

"How can I forget the barbarous manner with which I have been
treated in my own country? You know what I have gone through.
I enter port after a storm that has lasted thirty years."

He had a salary of twenty thousand francs for himself, and four thousand
for his niece, who bitterly opposed the acceptance of Frederick's offer.
She prophesied that in the end it would be his death. He went at work
correcting his tragedies and writing new plays. He soon thought he
discovered deceit in the king, and learned that he was despotic. The
keen remarks of each were treasured up. Voltaire heard from a friend
that the king had said of him: "I shall not want him more than a year
longer--one squeezes the orange and throws away the peel."

The remark caused him much sorrow. The king also treasured up a remark
sarcastically made by Voltaire, which was as follows: "When I correct
the royal poems I am washing the king's dirty linen." They soon lost
their attachment for each other. Voltaire watched in vain for a way to
escape from Prussia. At last it came, and he was once more a free man in
Switzerland.

He went into a Protestant region, where there were no Catholics, and
bought him a pretty estate, and determined to live in complete
independence. Persecution however followed him her